As clock ticks down, Greece tries to clean up its act on waste

Cell phone glued to his ear, Kosmas Vassilas watches his truck crews round up multi-coloured bins on the island of Corfu, where a groundbreaking recycling initiative is bucking the trend of Greece's anarchic waste disposal.

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In a country where many think nothing of dumping used appliances, old furniture and even toilets on the street with their garbage, the municipality of North Corfu has launched a programme that has residents sort their waste into more than a dozen bins.

Besides yellow for paper, red for plastic and blue for aluminium, there are bins for secondhand clothing, empty ink cartridges, used lightbulbs, electrical appliances and cooking oil, among others.

"People call to throw away a mattress, a fridge, anything you can imagine," said Vassilas, a municipal supervisor, as bright red and yellow trucks emptied matching bins behind him.

Recycling only reclaims around 20 percent of household waste in Greece.

The European Union average was 48.2 percent in 2023.

Under EU rules, this percentage must increase to 65 percent by 2035. And only 10 percent of municipal waste can be buried in landfills.

Running out of time, Greece is now considering large-scale waste incineration.

But the plan has run into strong opposition from local councils, which cite health concerns. In Corfu, change came after a protest shut down the local landfill in 2018, choking the island in garbage.

"People were throwing garbage out of balconies and cars. It was hair-raising," said deputy mayor Spyridoula Kokkali.